Rebirth
by Kyuu333
Summary: Sir Aaron awakens in modern Sinnoh along with Lucario, summoned by Arceus to stop a threat of destruction of the world. Given a new purpose, and a new name, Sir Aaron explores the modern world, with Lucario traveling alongside with him. R&R please
1. Name

Hey guys...sorry for not updating at all until lately. I didn't have time to go on the computer, and because of that, all my unfinished chapters and stories saved on this site were deleted. I know I should've just used Word to type my stories but...I don't know, I just don't. :/ So, I've lost my will to keep writing my fanfictions with the multiple chapters...sorry again for those who read them. DX

But anyways, I'm writing again now because I have a lot of ideas piling up in my head and I need to write them before I forget them...I already published two of them, and there's more coming. This one's actually one with a lot of chapters. I'll try to keep this one up. x_x It's kind of an alternate story from the one I planned with "Family Friends." It's based partly on the game, partly on the movie, and partly from my imagination, and is also sort of an explanation of some sort. Dawn and Lucas do not exist in this fanfic, because I do not like them very much. :T And sorry if there's typos or repetitions, I didn't proofread.

R&R, please!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon...wait...I did not create Pokemon. I do have the game, though, and therefore, I have some Pokemon in my team.

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**1 - Name**

_As Lucario closed his eyes and vanished, his aura was joined with another, and the spirits floated to the Tree's core, disappearing from the air.__ Nobody saw the spirits float out and away, somehow guiding themselves on. Very far away, the spirits finally settled down, finding a new place to stay..._

_...And Sir Aaron opened his eyes._

The misty sky was all that he saw, and Sir Aaron frowned, wondering where he was. He sat up, propping his body up with the help of his arms. It took some effort to move upright - his body felt stiff, as if he was asleep for a long time. Now, at this angle, he saw that the ground under him was a large platform made out of plated glass, which was floating on its own without support above somewhere that looked like a collapsed palace. Those ruins below had broken pillars sticking out of the ground, most of them sharp on the top, like spears. Sir Aaron stared down there, very confused. He felt as if he knew this place, yet it wasn't somewhere he had ever been to during his life...and speaking of life...why was he alive?

His memory was coming back to him slowly as he awoke, and started to remember his life from before. The man raised his hands into vision, staring at them questioningly. Either he was really alive, or this was the afterlife. He noticed that his clothes were a bit different as well - he was wearing something like a blue suit, with a black turtleneck underneath it.

_Where am I...?_ he wondered, scanning the glass platform. There was a shape lying next to him, a Pokemon, that he vaguely recognized...Suddenly, his memory sparked as everything came back to him.

"...Lucario...?" he asked softly. The Pokemon was unconscious, lying limp on the floor, with his back to Sir Aaron. He shook the Pokemon gently on the shoulder, and Lucario was rolled onto his back, facing the sky. He showed no sign of awakening. Sir Aaron suddenly felt alarmed. "L-Lucario!" Through his slight panic, he accidentally sent a small current of aura through Lucario's shoulder, and the Pokemon finally stirred.

Lucario's red eyes blinked open, clouded slightly with daze. They were unfocused, but as he blinked again, they started to adjust. Sir Aaron sighed with relief."You are unharmed..."

As he got his bearings, Lucario's eyes widened in shock from seeing the familiar face. _'M...Master...?'_ He raised a paw towards the man, not believing what he saw. Sir Aaron caught the paw, holding it lightly, and smiled down at the jackal Pokemon.

"Old friend...I thought that I would never see you again..."

_'Sir Aaron...it is you...' _Lucario suddenly sat up, and to Sir Aaron's surprise, hugged the man. _'Forgive me...I had doubted you...'_

Sir Aaron relaxed, staring at the Pokemon. He had expected that Lucario would have been infuriated after what he had done to him, but it seemed as if Lucario had learned of why the man did what he did. The aura guardian pulled away, placing a hand on the top of Lucario's head. The warm aura on his palm calmed the Pokemon slightly.

"No...I am the one who should be apologizing," he sighed. "I did not want to imprison you...it was the only way that you would have lived on."

_'Yes...I understand, Master,'_ Lucario replied. His eyes flashed with loyalty. _'I will never question you again...you will always be my master...and my friend.'_

Sir Aaron smiled softly. "Thank you, Lucario...however, I really am not your master anymore. I have taught you well, and I do not have such a right to own or control you. You are free to do what you wish, and to go on living freely." Lucario looked at the man, and Sir Aaron saw a firmness in his red eyes.

_'If I am free to do what I please...then I choose to stay with you. To help you as a friend.'_

The man contemplated Lucario's words, staring at the Pokemon. "...If that is what you wish to do, then I must not object...but are you certain that that is what you truly want? You can have a life of more freedom and happiness if you return into the wild..." Lucario shook his head immediately.

_'I have made my decision,'_ he said with great certainty. Sir Aaron hesitated, then smiled slightly, suddenly content.

"Then...I will respect it." He stood, lending Lucario a hand. Lucario stared up at the man admirably before he smiled, taking his hand. When the pokemon stood, he was finally aware of their surroundings.

_'...Where are we?'_ he wondered, peering down at the transparent glass platform. Sir Aaron laughed softly, as he asked himself the same question a little earlier.

"I do not know..." he admitted, though was strangely calm in this situation. There was no way to get off of the glass platform unless if they jumped, and that would be suicide seeing how far they were from the ground. "Although...I feel as if I recognize this place..." Lucario glanced at him questioningly, and the man closed his eyes, thinking. _This place...a glass platform...pillars shaped like spears..._ Finally, something clicked in his head, as he remembered a legend that he once read in Cameran Palace's library. He looked up in wonder. "This is...the Hall of Origins?"

_'...Correct.'_ A sudden voice boomed from behind the two, and they turned with alarm to see a giant Pokemon standing there on the glass platform who was definitely not there a moment ago. He stood calmly on his four pointed legs, staring down at the man and jackal.

"L...Lord Arceus..." Sir Aaron gasped in awe.

_'The Original One...'_ Lucario seemed just as stunned. Both of them then remembered their manners and bowed to the pokemon respectably.

_'Welcome, valiant knights...'_ The giant Pokemon took a step forward, green and red eyes flashing brilliantly.

"Lord Arceus...have you summoned us?" Sir Aaron asked, though not looking up to make eye contact, staring at the glass below him. Arceus let out a quiet sigh.

_'Yes...I realize that your quests have ended. You both deserve the slumber that you had entered...however...I must call upon you to ask of your assistance once more. There is a great peril...so great that it may destroy this world that I have molded...'_

"Destroy it...? Who would do such a thing?"

_'Some being who is hungry for power...who seeks a creation of a new world...and to rule under it with supreme power.'_

_'Such a selfish motive...'_ Lucario spat, with a small flash of anger. This was why he used to hate all humans...that is, until he met his new master.

_'Indeed it is...'_ Arceus agreed grimly. _'However, it is a nature that we all have, buried deep inside of us - selfishness. It is quite unpredictable to know if one decides to take that dark nature and put it into use as their motive...'_

"But...why have you summoned us to assist you?" Sir Aaron asked. Arceus turned his gaze to him.

_'You both are of the few purest souls that I had ever created...you are the beings that I trust the most. I knew, beyond reasonable doubt, that the two of you were the best souls that I could assign this quest to.'_

Both Sir Aaron and Lucario had to look up after that statement, staring with stunned expressions at Arceus. The Original One looked as if he was smiling, though that wouldn't be possible, seeing that he had no real distinctive movable mouth.

"For me to be so trustworthy to the Original One...it seems like too much of a praise," Sir Aaron admitted. He didn't feel as if he deserved such honor from a figure who was the creator of everything. Lucario seemed to think the same way about himself, gazing at Arceus's feet with disbelief.

_'It is not_,' Arceus objected immediately. _'Valiant knights...you have more ability than you believe. But you have yet to discover your true potential...you shall see, after you have completed my request.'_

_'What exactly is your request, Lord Arceus?'_ Lucario asked.

_'Ah, I have not yet explained it clearly, have I?'_ Arceus sighed. _'Very well, my assignment for you is this: to discover the threat of destruction and to attempt to eliminate it...it is much to ask of you, and you have the right to decline. If you refuse, then I will place you back into your endless slumber, and you may be at peace...however, this may put this world in great danger...though if you accept, then you may be able to prevent this world's fate, but the burden will be great...'_ The giant pokemon made eye contact with the two. _'So, what is your decision? Do you accept or decline?'_

Lucario looked to Sir Aaron. _'Master...you may decide. What ever your choice, I will follow you to the end.'_ Sir Aaron glanced at the jackal silently, and then looked down at the glass platform, closing his eyes as he thought.

"To protect all those who are living...to create harmony and balance between pokemon and mortals...that is the responsibility that I bear - that all guardians of Aura bear," he said after a moment. "I will not do nothing while these countless lives are endangered..." As he looked up at Arceus, his aura emitting from him flared with determination, becoming so strong that it was visible. His eyes were glowing slightly with bright blue energy, making his usual soft blue eyes piercing with intimidating power. "Lord Arceus, I accept your request! If I do not, then I am violating my own code of life." Lucario smiled knowingly at that, as he lived by the same code.

_'I too, will have to agree. I shall accept as well!' _the jackal growled, his aura filters rising up as his own aura emitted as his spirit rose. Arceus stirred slightly, his red pupils growing brighter.

_'I suspected as much from the two of you...'_ he said with a slight air of pride. _'Then, I wish you luck, knights, on your mission...'_ He paused for a second, then added, _'You must keep a low profile, however. Beings of this new generation seem to be very skeptical...Lucario, you have seen it, this new world...'_

_'Yes...'_ Lucario bowed slightly. _'We will be careful.'_ Arceus nodded in approval.

_'Very good...' _Arceus's eyes flashed, and suddenly something small materialized in the air front of Sir Aaron. The man lifted his hands to it, and examined it. It seemed like some kind of strange flute. '_When you are finished in this world, return to the Spear Pillar,'_ Arceus continued, _'play the Azure Flute...and you will find this place again. I will be waiting, to return to you the peace that you were in.'_

"And when shall we know when we are finished in this world?" Sir Aaron asked.

_'I will not order you to return immediately, but you will know...when the time is right.'_

Both Lucario and Sir Aaron nodded at this. "Understood."

_'Now, I have finished. You may go now. Again, the best of luck to you both.'_ As Arceus said this, a floating glass stairway appeared from the edge of the glass platform behind them. Lucario bowed to him and started to walk towards it, but Sir Aaron stayed, hesitating a little. Arceus looked to him. _'Yes, sir knight?'_

"Lord Arceus...do you have any clue who is causing this peril?" the man asked. It would be helpful for a lead. Arceus nedded slightly.

_'I do...they go by the name of "Team Galactic." They are working for this human...though I do not believe that they understand his true motive.'_

"I see..." Sir Aaron replied thoughtfully. This might be helpful information... Arceus was walking towards him, and the man looked up at the pokemon, who looked even bigger and more intimidating close up. The pokemon was only about a foot or two in front of him, and raised a tipped leg to touch the man's collar. Sir Aaron didn't flinch away as the contact was made, but then, Arceus's aura sent a shiver down his spine. Then, as quickly as Arceus did this, the pokemon moved away, backing up a little.

_'...You have my blessing.'_ Sir Aaron noticed that there was now something hanging from his neck. He looked down to see a golden pendant at his collar, shaped in a simple design. He touched the metal in wonder. The pendant bore the symbol of Aura - the same symbol that he remembered was on his old gloves that he left at the Tree of Beginnings. Seeing it seemed to feel cleansing.

"...Thank you, Lord Arceus," the man said quietly.

_'You are welcome. It is a gift...keep it safe,' _Arceus responded. Sir Aaron looked up and found that the Pokemon was slowly becoming transparent. _'I must go now. I will await for your return... ... ...until next time...'_

With that, the pokemon completely vanished, and Sir Aaron stood there alone for a moment. The name that Arceus just addressed him by...was not his name...or was it? Not pondering any further, the man walked to where Lucario was waiting, by the stairs.

_'Master...shall we go?'_ Lucario suggested. The man shook his head slightly.

"I have already said to you...I am no longer your master...I am a friend," he said kindly. Lucario nodded, understanding.

_'Then, let us go, Aaron...'_

"No..." Lucario turned and gazed at him in confusion. The man looked back at the glass platform, where Arceus stood before. "My name...is not Aaron...not in this life..."

He turned back to Lucario with a calm smile.

"...I am Riley."


	2. The Ruler of the Sky

Thanks to those who added this story to their favorites/alerts list! I am glad that I know that some people are reading my stories. XD I'm trying to include how Riley met all of his party pokemon (the ones that he use when you battle him in Pokemon Platinum) among everything else. The first chapter was boring, sorry about that. This story is having a slow start. Like Regigigas. DX Again, sorry if there's typos or repetitions, I didn't proofread very much...

Enjoy, and please review! They help a lot.

PS. I know that you can't use fly from Spear Pillar in the game...but you can in this story because I said so. XD

PPS. I made up Salamence's title...but I thought it suited him because on one of the Pokedex entries I saw on Bulbapedia, it said that Salamence was the fastest flier of all flying-types.

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**2 - The Ruler of the Sky  
**

The two figures walked silently down the endless steps. This was the first time that they actually thought about how high up in the sky they were, as no matter how many steps down they took, they always felt like they were walking in place. Finally, the bottom of the stairs could be seen, and both of them stepped off at the same time. As soon as their feet touched firmly on the dusty ground of Spear Pillar, the staircase instantly vanished. Lucario and Riley both turned to look and saw that the glass platform had disappeared as well. They looked at each other, sharing the same thoughts, but before they could say anything, a powerful blast of wind swirling with dust knocked them off guard.

Riley was able to snatch his hat before it flew off of his head, and used his arm to shield his eyes, though also closed them instinctively. With all the dust flying around, keeping your eyes open would be hazardous. _Lucario, cover your eyes!_ the man thought, using telepathy to warn the pokemon. Riley was able to see without using his eyes, as did Lucario, using the power of Aura to observe surroundings. It was peculiar, that he could now sense that they were standing at the peak of a mountain. At the Hall of Origin, they could not feel anything around them, as if the glass platform was a dimension on its own. Lucario had backed into Riley, and the two stood back to back, feeling the air swirl around them, with dust slapping at their bodies.

_'This is strange,'_ Lucario observed. _'How is there suddenly wind?'_

_I suppose the Hall of Origins is in a different world from here...you've sensed it while we were there, have you not?_ Riley thought back, being safe by using telepathy instead of opening his mouth. _Now, we are at a mountain's peak...that must be why it is so windy._

Lucario was silent, and Riley felt his aura filters brush against his shoulders as they rose up. The pokemon was sensing for a bearing. _'There is a cave opening in front of me,'_ he finally thought. _'We can find shelter there.'_

_Agreed. Let's go,_ Riley replied, following Lucario's senses and finding the mouth of the cave. Swiftly yet carefully, the two bounded for the shelter, and as they entered the darkness, they were suddenly shielded from the wind, and the flying dust ceased. Riley had reopened his eyes at this point, and peered out of the cave. The raging wind was swirling dust everywhere outside, blurring the sky with a brown fog. The sun was still slightly visible through the haze, though, and judging by the position and color of it, it seemed to be the early afternoon.

"It does not seem like this wind will die down very soon," Riley commented. "Lucario, is there a way out from this cave?"

_'I shall check...'_ Lucario closed his eyes, with his aura filters rising up again as he scanned the dark cave. They could hear the slight rustle of wings from the Zubats and Golbats who were hanging from the ceiling deeper in the cave, where the dim light of the outside wouldn't reach. _'This cave route is very winding...'_ Lucario reported after a moment, opening his eyes again. _'It would take very long to go through it and find a way out_..._and there is something blocking my vision at some point. If I cannot see through it, I doubt that we may find a way past it.'_

Riley sighed, glancing back at the blowing dust outside. If it takes that long to get through this cave, and if that object blocking Lucario's view turns out to be problematic, then they shouldn't risk going through it. There wasn't much time until the sun set, and staying in a middle of a big cave like this one at night was not very pleasant - with all the bat pokemon out hunting. There could have possibly been some ghost pokemon dwelling in the darkness as well, and if there were, it would be very dangerous. Riley sat back in a corner of the cave. "It would be best to just wait, then, and wait for the wind to go away as soon as possible. Then, we may find another way to leave this place." Lucario hesitated, then sighed, sitting next to him

_'Understood...'_

~o~o~o~

During the free time they had while waiting, Lucario had time to explain the modern world to Riley, as he had seen it before he passed away. He explained everything that he had learned - though it still wasn't that much information, seeing that the pokemon didn't have that much time to observe everything he saw. He talked about fireworks, electricity, cars, pokemon food, and finally, about pokemon trainers, pokeballs and pokemon battles. Riley seemed puzzled by the last few subjects.

"I do not understand this thing about pokemon battles," he said. "Pokemon freely let humans control them to win battles with other pokemon? And they do this as an enjoyment?"

_'Yes...I did not understand it at first, either,'_ Lucario admitted. _'I did not see why pokemon would bond with the humans that had captured them...however...I had met a trainer back then, and he had a Pikachu that was taken away by Mew to the Tree of Beginnings...he was willing to sacrifice all that he had to save that pokemon...and as they found each other at the tree, the Pikachu seemed glad to be reunited with his trainer.'_ Lucario stared outside at the wind, deep in thought as he remembered this. _'I had asked the trainer why he cared so much about his pokemon, and he told me, _"Because Pikachu and I are friends." _After all that I had experienced...I had learned that trainers and their captured pokemon trust each other - are loyal to each other, and help each other when they are in danger. Just like friends...'_

Riley let those words sink in, still thinking on the subject. He couldn't completely accept that captured pokemon were happy to battle other pokemon for their trainers, though he believed Lucario's words. He would just have to ponder about it more until he learned to understand it fully. After a few minutes of silence, Lucario mentioned something else.

_'Ah, yes, and there was a strange kind of food that I had in the modern world...'_

"What strange food?" Riley asked curiously.

_'It was called "chocolate." One of the trainer's human friends offered it to me. It did not look very appetizing at first, but when I tried it...it was very good,'_ Lucario said, nodding approvingly. Riley stared at him for a moment. He had never seen Lucario say that any food he ate was good, though he rarely ate anything but berries, like most wild pokemon did. Hearing that Lucario said that something tasted good made Riley even more curious.

"Huh...I suppose I must try some, then," he replied thoughtfully. Lucario suddenly nodded more rigorously.

_'Yes, you must. I will look for it once we are able to leave this place.'_

As if on queue, the wind outside started to die down. Both Riley and Lucario stood up after seeing this. "At last..." Riley sighed, kicking his feet slightly to get circulation back into his legs. "Let's go, then, Lucario."

_'Yes, Aaro- Riley,'_ Lucario quickly corrected himself, still getting used to the new name. As the last of the wind faded away, the two stepped out, back into Spear Pillar. It was very easy to scan the terrain now, though the sky was still dull. Spear Pillar was pretty much a flat platform, plus the sharp pillars, set on a mountain top. There didn't seem like another easy way to get out of the area. _'Hm...what shall we do now?'_ Lucario asked, a little puzzled. Riley was staring upwards, at the clouds.

"...Perhaps we can fly out of here?" he suggested. That seemed like an easy solution.

_'But...neither of us can fly, nor do we have a pokemon who could assist us...'_

"And that is why I will call for them," Riley replied, as if it were simple. Lucario stared at him in confusion, but before he could ask any more, Riley knelt down, placing both of his palms onto the dust-covered floor. Closing his eyes, he took a breath, then his hands flared with visible aura. The energy around his palms grew larger and larger, until he finally released it. This sent a shock wave that shook the mountain, and Lucario stumbled slightly, in awe of his former teacher's power. As the shock wave disappeared into the distance, Riley stood up again, looking to Lucario.

"I've asked those with wings to come and help us. They should be appearing...soon..." he suddenly stumbled a little, looking dizzy. "Ah...I have to sit down for a moment."

As he practically fell on his hands and knees, Lucario kneeled down to his level, looking suddenly worried. _'Mas- Riley, are you all right?'_

Riley nodded surely, giving Lucario his usual gentle smile. "Yes...I have been sleeping for so long. Suddenly using so much aura took a toll on my body, it seems. But I'll be fine in a moment." He adjusted himself so that he sat with his legs crossed, and peered up at the sky. "Oh, there they come."

Lucario followed his gaze, and saw a flock of bird pokemon flying over to where they were. It was a flock of Swablu, calling noisily as they approached. The jackal pokemon was impressed by how quickly they came, like Riley had predicted. However, Riley seemed a little disappointed in a way, frowning as he watched them approach.

"...I should have thought more about what message to send to the pokemon before I called for them," he sighed. "Swablu are too small to be ridden on, especially to be ridden by two people..." Lucario frowned as well, now seeing the problem. He also knew that, since he was the metal type pokemon, he was unusually heavy, despite how swiftly he could move, and was therefore hard to carry. The Swablu had reached the two, now chattering noisily everywhere while flapping their cloud-like wings to stay in place. Riley looked to each of them with a frown, and Lucario could tell from reading his thoughts that he was feeling guilty of making all these pokemon fly up here for nothing. As the man hesitated, suddenly there was a great roar, not from too far away. Some of the Swablu turned around in the air to see what it was, and many others screamed as they flew away, scattering in fear of the sound. The roar came again, now even closer to the crowd. Only Riley and Lucario could sense what it was.

A great sound of the flapping of bat wings could be heard, and then a looming shadow appeared in the cloudy haze. Finally, a pokemon broke out from the clouds high above them, sending some of the fog trailing after its brilliant red wings. With a swift movement, the pokemon dived down to Spear Pillar, landing in front of Riley and Lucario with its strong legs and letting out one final mighty below. All the Swablu that were crowded around had fled away by this point, and the three figures stood there alone. The pokemon was a dragon, glaring down at the man and the jackal silently with sharp, keen eyes. It folded its red wings, as its blue scales covering the rest of its body shone dully from the light of the covered sunset. Riley and Lucario stared up at it in admiration.

"The Ruler of the Sky, Salamence..." Riley muttered in awe.

_'Salamence, have you heard us?'_ Lucario asked. The dragon pokemon responded by lowering his wings, letting the two able to climb onto its back. Riley seemed a bit surprised to see such a calm and patient Salamence. It was usually hard to try to gain one's respect. Well, there were always pokemon who strayed from their common stereotypes.

"May we...?" Salamence nodded silently, and Riley smiled in gratitude. "Thank you, Salamence. We are in your debt." He felt the dragon's thoughts shift, as he disagreed with that statement. They saved that disagreement to be dealt with later, as Salamence allowed the two passengers to climb onto his back. Once they settled, the dragon raised his wings, letting out another mighty roar before he flapped them with great strength, sending the dust on the ground flying, and a large, clean spot of the ground below them was revealed - the flat bricks that Spear Pillar was built on.

As soon as Salamence effortlessly gained altitude in the air, it suddenly gave his wings one huge flap, pushing the air behind him as he surged forward. This was movement was so sudden that his riders nearly fell off right then and there. Riley had to grab Lucario's paw to prevent the jackal from falling off, and gently grasped onto Salamence's long neck to steady himself as well. After this rocky start, the flying pokemon slowed down a little, not flapping his wings so rapidly as before, letting himself cruise in the wind.

The group of Swablu that had gone to Spear Pillar managed to follow Salamence before losing him in the sky, and had to use great effort to catch up with the dragon, even though it was just drifting with the wind. He was still fast enough to make it hard for the small birds to keep up. The flock of Swablu followed closely behind Salamence's tail, all calling out happily. Some flew close enough to brush up against Salamence's flanks, thoroughly cleaning him with their wings before they were pulled away by the air pressure. Then they had to flap their wings rigorously to keep up, to catch up with Salamence to clean him again, and restart the cycle. Lucario watched them and their work curiously. These birds had quite simple natures, always happy to assist others whenever they could.

A while later, the flock of Swablu got tired and started to slow down, falling behind the dragon pokemon. They finally gave up in trying to catch up with Salamence and, with calls of goodbye, all swooped downwards, to find a perch to rest at. _I am sorry for your trouble,_ Riley called after them using telepathy. The birds didn't really seem to mind at all, though, not having great annoyance and impatience in their nature. It looked like they even enjoyed their time a little.

The trio were now out of the fog and could now, and the sky and scenery below them could be seen. The glorious sky was now changing colors, the sun sending waves of red, yellow, orange, and pink through it as the great orb of light sunk into the horizon. The forest trees growing tall and strong beneath them had the yellow light reflected on their brilliant, green leaves that rustled in the wind. There were small dots of lights in the distance, making up what Lucario recognized to be a town or city

_'It is beautiful...'_ Lucario commented, staring at the scenery. Riley nodded in agreement, taking in the view as well.

Salamence let out a below as a warning before he closed his wings, letting himself dive down closer to the trees, making the plants shiver in the sudden wind as he flew by them like a jet. This seemed like something he did for fun, as the dragon climbed up into the sky again. When they were quite high up, Riley spotted lights below them. The lights seemed to be coming from several small buildings in what looked like a small settlement.

"Ah- that must be a town," the man observed. "Salamence, you may drop us off there, if you wish. Thank you for your help."

Salamence swooped down, landing at the outskirts of the town. It was quite a scene to watch the dragon land, but luckily, there was no one standing nearby to have their attention attracted to the pokemon. The two passengers climbed off of Salamence, thanking him once again before he set off into the sky again. After that, Riley and Lucario were free to wander around the town.

~o~o~o~

The old lady was heading home from Celestic Town's mysterious ruins, as the sun disappeared from view. It was getting quite dark out, and she hoped to be home before it became completely dark. She passed a couple of kids playing around one last time for the day before their parents called them back inside to hide from the cold. Some small pokemon were playing along with them, and the granny paused to smile at their happiness, glad to see that everyone was getting along. She remembered when her granddaughter was their age, playing outside with all the other kids and pokemon. But those times have passed now - that girl was now a young woman, and also skillful pokemon trainer, traveling everywhere to study her research of the world. She still visited often, though, and the old lady was proud of her for growing up to be such a strong and great human being.

Sighing wistfully, the grandmother continued to walk to her house, but then spotted two figures on her way. It was a young man, and a pokemon, wandering around as if they were lost. The old lady had never seen these two around town before, but for some reason, they looked a little familiar. Feeling as if she should help them out, she called over to them. "Excuse me, you two youngsters..."

The young man turned to face her after hearing her voice, looking at her in slight surprise. "Ah- Hello there..." The pokemon turned around as well, though remained silent.

"Hello," the old lady greeted back. "You two seem a little lost...do you need any help around here?"

"Um...," the man scratched his head from under his hat, looking a little embarrassed, "you see, we are kind of...new here. And we are looking for somewhere to stay for the night...may you suggest anywhere that we can go?"

"Hm? Well, this is a small town, and there aren't any hotels or anything..." the grandmother replied thoughtfully. "So, you are new here? Then, welcome to Celestic Town!" she welcomed belatedly, giving a warm smile. "You can say that I am this town's head."

"Oh, nice to meet you," the man replied. "I am known as Riley." He looked directly at the old lady now, and in his soft blue eyes, she saw a strange, deep wisdom buried within, as if he had lived for very long. "This is my...partner, Lucario."

"Very good, nice to meet you," the lady answered, shaking his hand. She thought for a minute, then said, "Well, if you are searching for a place to stay for the night, then maybe you would like to stay at my house for a little bit? We have a spare room that you may use."

"Really? Ah, but I am afraid that we have no money..."

"That is quite all right," the old lady insisted, nodding with a kind smile. "Everyone should be welcome in this town, no matter if they have money or not." The man hesitated still before answering.

"Well...then we will stay. Though for one night only. We do not want to become a bother..."

"Oh, not at all! Come, we'll head over there. I was just returning, myself."

As the old lady lead the two over to her large house, she glanced at the Lucario who followed the man. _This pokemon...it's the same species as one of Cynthia's pokemon that she owns,_ she observed. That would explain why it looked familiar. However, the man looked familiar to the grandmother as well, as if she had seen him somewhere before, even though this was the first time that they had met. But, where had she seen him before? She just couldn't figure it out.


	3. Pokemon, Trainers, and Chocolate

Thank you to my readers! I hope you guys like the story so far. Sorry for the wait...this chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. x_x

I originally wanted to combine the last chapter that I wrote with this one, but it would've been ridiculously longer than it already is, and there would have been too many ideas for one chapter, so I split them. :/ I sort of rushed at the end of this chapter, too...and again, sorry for any typos/repetitions/etc. *dies*

Something's actually going to happen in this chapter! Gasp! :O Anyways, enjoy, and remember to review!

* * *

**3 - Pokemon, Trainers, and Chocolate**

The elderly man and woman who owned the only tiny shop in the whole of Celestic Town were awake and tending the counter in their little building. It was early in the morning, with only the slight redness in the sky indicating the dawn that was almost upon them. The rest of the sky was still completely dark, however, with the stars still twinkling in the distance. There were no customers entering the shop yet, but the old couple were still at work, setting their supplies up. They were opening the boxes of pokeballs, potions, elixirs, and etc. including some foods and goods to sell to travelers. No one ever came into the shop this early, but their sign hanging outside promised that they would be open, and so there they were.

After setting up, the couple sat there, waiting for customers who would never arrive until much later, both starting to doze off. Suddenly, the door of the house opened, making both workers blink awake immediately.

"Oh! Welcome!" the elderly woman greeted, genuinely surprised that someone had entered. She looked to the door, with her working husband snatching up his spectacles to see who it was. Surprisingly, standing at the doorway was a blue jackal-like pokemon.

The two shopkeepers looked at him with a puzzled expression as Lucario closed the door gently behind him. He got on all fours, crawling stealthily to the counter, sniffing the air as if he was hungry and looking for food. Any other time, the old couple would've shooed the pokemon out, telling it to come back with his trainer. Wild pokemon were always wandering in to search for food during business hours. However, this time, the shopkeepers just looked at each other in confusion. One reason on why they didn't kick Lucario out immediately was that he was a rare pokemon that they had very occasionally seen, and because it was just too early in the morning to move, much less try to shoo a Lucario out of the shop. Not even most pokemon were awake this early in the day. Instead, they just let the jackal wander forward to look at their supplies. Lucario didn't project his thoughts like he used to so that others could hear him think, because he had learned during his brief stay in the modern world that it was unnatural to communicate with humans that way, and that it arose some suspicion. So, he just sniffed around like a normal pokemon, intently searching for something.

"May...we help you today?" the elderly man questioned, sounding a little cranky because of the morning. Lucario sniffed around at the things set on the table little more, before going back to sniffing the air again. Finally, he traced the scent that he was seeking for, peering at an unopened box that was sitting behind the shopkeepers. He immediately pointed a paw at the box, barking with his gruff, audible voice. For good measure, he decided to wag his tail slightly while he was at it. The elderly man and woman turned to see what he was pointing at, and the man crouched down to open the box. Inside, there were wrapped bars of something, perfectly piled up to the brim. The two looked back at the anxious pokemon.

"Um...yes, these are chocolate candy bars..." the old lady said hesitantly. "Would you like to buy one?" Lucario nodded quickly, this time subconsciously wagging his tail. The woman pulled one bar out, then paused. "But...do you have any money to pay for this?" Lucario looked at her with a puzzled expression before shaking his head, and the woman frowned upon seeing this. "Well then, you cannot purchase it unless you have enough money. I'm sorry...but you can trade some berries for it if you want. I'm willing to trade it for...oh...four oran berries." Lucario stared at her for a moment, then barked again, nodding slightly in understanding. With one swift movement, the pokemon exited the store, running out of the town to search for some wild berries to pick and bring back to trade. The shopkeepers looked to each other again in confusion, wondering about what just happened.

~o~o~o~

Riley finally woke up, feeling very stiff and drowsy still. With slight effort, he sat up in the small bed that the kind old lady had let him borrow, massaging his temples slightly. Slowly, he remembered where he was and what had happened the day before. Lucario, Arceus, his mission, his new name, Salamence, and finally, this town. Although he had slept, he still felt very fatigued. He sighed in discomfort, trying to stretch out his soreness.

_This is probably from using so much aura..._ he remembered. This was like a punishment for using so much energy so soon. Peering out the window, he assumed by the position of the sun that it was nearly noon and that he had overslept, despite how sleepy he still felt. With another sigh, he climbed out of bed dragging his reluctant and tired body along. He grabbed his hat that was sitting on the nightstand next to him, placing it back on the top of his head before walking out of the room.

The building was big, and Riley looked around, admiring the ancient scrolls of calligraphy and other various decorations hung on the walls. He was wondering where Lucario was, half just looking around, and half searching for him. After using his aura vision, he confirmed that the jackal wasn't even in town, and wondered even more of where he ran off to. Riley finally shrugged it off. Lucario was always wandering off to other places, so he wasn't very surprised that he couldn't find him. The pokemon would always find his way back, anyways, and that was a fact. There was no reason to worry.

Riley kept wandering, and finally found the kitchen, where the old lady was, probably preparing food for lunch. "Good morning," the grandmother greeted, though frowned when she saw the man. "Hm...did you sleep well? You seem very tired still..."

"Ah...does it show?" Riley laughed. "Yes, I slept fine...I think it's just from the long day yesterday..." It truly had been an extremely long day for him. A lot has happened in such a short time, mostly his coming back to life.

"I see...well, try to rest up today," the old lady suggested. "I don't think that you should be up and about so much. Just relax for now."

The man nodded slightly. "I think that I must..." It wasn't as if he knew where else to go at this point. First, he had to find out things about this "Team Galactic" that Arceus had told him about. But that could wait for the moment...now he just had to regain his energy.

"...Would you like some food?" the old lady offered, gesturing to the table in the kitchen that was piled up with different dishes. It all still looked warm, as if she had just cooked it all up.

"Oh- no, I am fine," Riley answered, shaking his head to decline her offer. "You have already helped me so much..."

"But you look so very tired right now. Eating will help you regain your energy," the woman insisted. "Go ahead and help yourself! I've cooked too much for everyone else, anyways. It is really not a problem."

After much convincing, Riley ate a little bit of the food, until the old lady seemed satisfied enough, and he headed outside to roam around the town. Riley was quite comfortable with this place, because it was quite old fashioned looking. He had yet to see any strange, modern things yet in this world. Lucario had told him that maybe larger settlements were more modernized than this small one. Riley still couldn't imagine the advanced technologies that Lucario had described, though. He would see them, all in good time.

The man didn't walk around very much, seeing the worn out state that he was in, and settled near a small pond to take the old lady's advise, and rest up. He had found a metal bench to sit on, that was conveniently shaded by a large tree. For a little while, he sat there, watching the calm water of the pond, deep in thought about his mission. Then, he slowly drifted off into sleep, putting his problems aside for the moment.

Riley woke up from his mild nap from hearing the laughter of children nearby. Following the noise, he looked around to see two little boys playing with each other close to where he was sitting at. He sat up in his seat, watching them curiously.

"Hey, wanna battle?" one of the boys was saying.

"Sure! We're gonna beat you, though!" the other laughed.

"We'll see about that!" the first boy had pulled out a tiny, strange looking ball, split into two halves. One half was red, and the other half was white. A small white button rested in between both halves, which the boy pressed. The ball immediately expanded to grow to the size of the boy's fist. Then, the ball was thrown. "Go, Starly!" The ball cracked open, sending a beam of light out of it. The light settled to one spot on the ground, and the tiny bird pokemon, Starly appeared from it, chirping cheerfully. This weird event made Riley blink in surprise. How did a pokemon materialize from a beam of light coming from a tiny ball?

_I see...that must be a pokeball,_ he thought to himself, remembering what Lucario told him. _Are they doing a pokemon battle, then?_ He kept watching, now thinking back to his thoughts on this activity. The concept really didn't appeal to him at all, and he would be much more comfortable if the pokemon were set free and not made to battle each other. Yet, the Starly seemed to be quite content at the sound of a battle, and Riley wondered why. As he pondered, the other boy pulled out his own pokeball.

"I choose you, Shinx!" The same thing happened as he threw the ball, except this time, it was a Shinx that appeared from the light. The pokemon cried out happily, dancing around on its sparking paws.

"Hey, no fair! Flying-type is weak to electric-type!" the first boy sniffed accusingly.

"Too late! We both chose our pokemon already!" the other boy objected.

"Aw, fine! We'll still school you guys!"

"Let's do it, then! ...Ready? Battle!"

"Starly, use peck!" the first boy commanded. The Starly chirped, flying forwards with its beak ready in front of it.

"Shinx, use spark!" The electric pokemon charged forwards, cloaking itself in electricity. Starly didn't flinch at the intimidation, still charging forwards.

"Starly, dodge it!" The Starly moved to the side, narrowly getting away from Shinx's electric tackle. "Great job! Now, use wing attack!" The Starly swooped down at the Shinx, wings outstretched. The electric pokemon had no time to react, and was knocked back from that attack. It recovered quickly, though, shaking its head in a daze.

"Shinx, use tackle!" Barely skipping a beat, the pokemon lunged at Starly, but missed by quite a distance, as Starly flew upwards, and out of reach.

"Starly, use quick attack!" The bird pokemon dived towards the Shinx with great speed, slamming into it head on to deal damage. The other boy seemed to be waiting for this, though.

"Now's your chance, Shinx! Use spark!" Shinx cried out with its power as it covered itself with an electric current. Before Starly could get away, it was tackled by a great electric force.

"Starly, no!" the first boy cried, as the Starly was knocked off of its feet, landing, injured, on its back. The bird pokemon chirped weakly and twitched as it tried to get up again. "Come on, Starly! You can still do this!" the boy cheered on for his pokemon. The other boy had a confident smile, as if he knew that he was going to win now.

"Shinx, finish him off with spark!" he ordered. Shinx growled, covering itself with the electric cloak yet again, charging towards the injured Starly. The first boy had a determined look on his face, which was also reflected in his Starly's face as well.

"Starly...use growl!" The Starly glared at the charging Shinx, calling out with an intimidating screech. The bluff worked, as the Shinx flinched. Its electric cloak disappeared for a second, but that was all the time that they needed. "Now, use quick attack!" Starly charged swiftly at the Shinx, tackling it with a great slam. The Shinx staggered from the blow, tripping over its feet.

"Shinx!" the other boy shouted, but the pokemon had already fallen down, though was attempting to get up again.

"Starly, use wing attack to finish him!" The Starly obeyed, slamming its wings at the Shinx. The electric pokemon cried out in pain, falling backwards. This time, it stayed down, too tired to stand back up.

"Oh no, Shinx!" the other boy cried, running over to his knocked out pokemon. He shook it, trying to wake it up. "Shinx! Shinx, are you all right?" The electric pokemon groaned slightly, opening its eyes. The boy looked at it with a relieved expression, scooping the pokemon into a hug. "You did great, buddy," he assured the pokemon. Shinx smiled slightly, patting the boy on the shoulder with a small paw.

"Hey, that was a good battle," the first boy exclaimed happily. Starly was rested on his head, chirping as if it was singing happily. The other boy smiled up at his friend, standing up.

"Yeah! You actually won," he laughed. "Well, that was some good training! Now my Shinx got a little bit stronger, I'm sure!" Shinx cried out in agreement, its cheeks sparking slightly with electricity as it tried to look tougher.

"And my Starly finally learned growl! I've been trying to make it learn that move for a while now..."

"Yep! That was fun. Let's battle again sometime, yeah?"

"Of course!"

"And I'll definitely win next time, you know!"

"Only if I go easy on you."

"I'm serious! We'll get you yet!"

"Heheh! Sure, bring it on!"

The two friends were now chatting away happily now, talking about pokemon. They let Starly and Shinx stay outside of their pokeballs, and the pokemon played around with each other; Starly dancing around on the air above Shinx's head as Shinx jumped around, trying to poke the Starly before it could fly away. Riley was still watching them, though was still unnoticed. He understood it a little bit more, the relationship between pokemon and trainers, not that he understood it fully yet. As Lucario had said, they did act a lot like friends, and it wasn't like the pokemon didn't like their place. It seemed like they actually did enjoy their battles. Battling made them stronger, and also bonded them with their trainers. Now, Riley could at least see why people liked battling each other with pokemon. Just a little.

Finally, one of the boys probably sensed that someone was watching them, because one of them turned and saw Riley staring at them. The boy stared back, falling silent, and when the other followed his gaze, he copied his friend's actions. They both stared at the man sitting under the tree, and Riley smiled slightly, getting up and walking over to them. As he walked over, Starly chirped at him contently, flapping over curiously. It settled on Riley's shoulder, hopping around happily. Shinx also approached him, running around at his feet, staring up at him while barking playfully. _Hello,_ he thought to both of them, using telepathy. The two boys, seeing how comfortable their pokemon were around the mysterious man, relaxed a little.

"Wow, mister! Our pokemon really like you," one of them exclaimed, sounding a little bit amazed. The other boy nodded, also looking surprised.

"Shinx usually doesn't get along with strangers," he observed.

"Ah, really?" Riley asked, acting as if he was surprised. The boy scooped up Shinx, hugging him tightly.

"Yeah! I don't know why, but he's getting along with you...mister, are you a trainer?"

"Um...not exactly," the man admitted, not sure what category he fit into in this generation. The two boys looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

"Do you have pokemon?"

"I don't own them, but I can make friends with them," Riley put it simply.

"Oh! So then, you're a ranger?"

"No, no! Rangers have that weird giant bracelet that tames pokemon! And I heard that all the rangers wear that red uniform..." the other boy argued back before Riley could say anything.

"But they don't need to wear the uniform all the time, right?" his friend asked.

"But they have to wear that bracelet all the time..." The two boys discussed this for a little bit longer.

"...Well, you might say that I am a trainer who does not use pokeballs," Riley finally said. _Or does pokemon battles,_ he thought to himself, though, figuring that that was probably the main point of being a trainer in the first place, didn't say it out loud.

"A trainer without pokeballs? Cool!" one of the boys exclaimed. Riley just nodded, glad that that description didn't seem out of the ordinary to the boys, and, gently coaxing Starly off of his shoulder, gave the pokemon back to its trainer.

"Yes...and I must ask...do you two love your pokemon?"

"Of course!" both of them exclaimed, hugging their pokemon closely. The pokemon responded back positively as well, fidgeting in their trainers' grips happily. Riley smiled, knowing that the bonds that they shared were true.

"Then, no matter what you do, make sure that you and your pokemon will never be set apart of each other. Because..." he thought of Lucario as he said this, "...they are your greatest allies."

"Yep! We promise," the boys nodded cheerily, knowing that it wouldn't be hard for them. Their pokemon had the same feeling, as their aura showed.

"That is good..." Riley felt reassured now. After seeing trainers and their pokemon for himself, he finally understood what Lucario had told him. It seemed that pokemon and humans really did get along with each other this way, because of this bond that they shared. Pokemon and trainers were just like friends, and also like partners. _Just like me and Lucario,_ he realized, and suddenly remembered something. "Well, I've got to go now," Riley told the boys and pokemon, turning to walk away. "I must go find a friend of mine. Take good care of each other."

"Okay," the boy with the Shinx said, waving goodbye. The boy with the Starly just stared at the man's back, before asking one final question.

"Hey, mister, is your friend a pokemon?" Riley looked back at the boy's curious face, and smiled warmly. With that, he silently walked off, disappearing from view. The boy stared on for a moment, before grinning happily, knowing that he was right. His friend looked a little puzzled though, staring at the boy.

"Huh?"

"Nothing!" the boy with the Starly laughed, turning to the boy with the Shinx with his wide grin. "C'mon, let's go play by the ruins! I'll race you!" Without another warning, he ran off, with Starly flapping onto his head.

"Wha- hey! That's cheating! Wait up," his friend called hotly, jogging after him.

~o~o~o~

Lucario was sniffing at the ground, still looking for oran berries. He had grown a little frustrated of looking, for he had searched for the whole morning and only managed to find three. He was so close, yet so far from getting that chocolate bar... The pokemon shook his head, feeling a bit silly for going this far for a single bar of candy. Yet, he was determined to get it. He had to get one to give to Riley, so that he could try the sweet snack. Lucario had promised to look for the chocolate, anyways, and didn't want to give up just yet. With a sigh, Lucario looked on, annoyed at how restricted his vision was. It was too foggy around this area to use his eyes efficiently, but oran berries were hard to sense, seeing that they didn't have any aura. Instead, Lucario used his sense of smell, sniffing at the ground and the air for any trace leading to an oran berry tree.

At last, after a few minutes, he sniffed out the scent of the tangy berry, and, following it eagerly, found the tall plant with the one single oran berry that Lucario needed, hanging low on a branch. _'Yes!'_ Swiftly, before any other pokemon could take it, he snatched it off of its branch. Staring with triumph at the blue fruit, he added it to his stash of three berries that he was holding onto. Now, he just had to go back to the shop and trade them for-

"Lucario...?" With a surprised yelp, the jackal whipped around to see Riley standing behind him, observing him curiously. The pokemon had been so caught up in looking for berries that he didn't bother to sense his surroundings. "What are you doing?" Fortunately, Lucario had hid the four berries behind his back before his friend could see them.

_'N-nothing! I'm doing nothing at all...'_ He didn't want to tell Riley about buying the chocolate, hoping to keep it a surprise, but his acting flustered made Riley feel even more suspicious.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

_'Yes...I am fine...really...'_ Lucario looked away, knowing that Riley could sense that he was keeping a secret. It was nearly impossible to hide something from someone like him, as he had learned a long while ago. Riley leaned over to look past Lucario, and the pokemon flinched, clasping his paws together to hide the berries. His friend frowned, seeing the action.

"What do you have in your paws?" he asked, leaning over some more to look towards what Lucario was hiding, but the jackal immediately turned around so that he couldn't get a glimpse of his back.

_'I-it's nothing...'_ Lucario stuttered again. Riley stared at him with a puzzled expression.

"Come on, you can show me," he coaxed, but Lucario still stubbornly refused to give in. Riley observed him some more before grinning slightly, reaching over to scratch the back of the pokemon's big ear. "Come on..."

Lucario suddenly relaxed at his touch, twitching his ears slightly. That felt kind of good- _'No! I can't!'_ Lucario moved away slightly, shaking his head. Riley kept at it, though, scratching Lucario's fur comfortably like he would to a pet. This method of convincing the jackal, as he had discovered in their old life, was actually very effective.

_'A-ahaha! No, stop it!' _Lucario laughed, trying to swat away his hand with his one empty paw. Seeing this opening, Riley grabbed his other paw holding the berries, and Lucario froze. There went his surprise... Suddenly, Riley's grip on his paw slackened, and Lucario looked up in surprise to see that he wasn't looking at the berries, but looking back towards the town with a strange expression.

"Lucario, do you sense that?" he questioned, completely serious now. The jackal followed his gaze through the fog. He hadn't been using his aura senses all day, and still wasn't using it at the moment.

_'What is it, Riley?'_ Riley's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I sense someone strange in the town..." The aura that Riley sensed was affected by the person's intentions, and he felt something dark in that aura...it was clear that the person was up to no good. Lucario looked at Riley with a confused expression, but the man didn't respond to it, still staring at the fog-surrounded town. Finally, he started to walk back towards it. "Let's go..."

Lucario blinked, then slowly nodded, following him cautiously.

~o~o~o~

Back in Celestic Town, there was a stranger standing in front of the ruins. He had hair that was strangely blue, styled into a bowl cut, and wore a black and white jumpsuit uniform, with a shiny badge clipped on designed with a fancy golden "G." With his eyes on the great ruins, he grabbed out a camera, snapping pictures of it. This was usually what tourists always did when they visited the ruins - taking pictures for sightseeing; but this man clearly wasn't there just to get snapshots for his photo album. He had an air of total business. Finally, he finished snapping pictures, looking at the ruins one last time. "Why does the boss want pictures of this, anyways? Does he just think that it's interesting, or..." he muttered to himself. He himself had no great interest in the designs and ancient paintings of the ruins. "Whatever, I'll give these to him," he sighed, stuffing the camera away in his bag.

As he was just about to leave, two little boys were heard laughing and playing nearby. Looking up, he saw them running very close by him, with their pokemon beating them in their race by a little bit. The stranger looked to them with some sudden interest, though seemed slightly annoyed at the same time. He started to walk over to them.

"Wah, Starly's so fast! How did you beat all of us?" one of the boys sighed. Starly chirped, hopping around happily. Shinx barked, racing in circles around the bird, making the two boys laugh.

"Well, I challenge all of you to a rematch!" the other boy demanded. The other three immediately stood at the ready again, prepared to race. The boy grinned, taking his starting position as well. "All right! Ready? Set! G-"

He suddenly stopped when he saw a tall stranger approaching them. His friend turned around as well when his shadow loomed above them, and Starly cried out, flapping its wings to take position on its trainer's head defensively. Shinx was growling as well, sensing the bad vibes that the man was emitting, standing at the ready as warning sparks were visible at its cheeks. The two kids hesitated slightly as the man glared down at them with intimidation.

"Hey, you brats," the guy sneered.

"Wh-what did you call us?" one of the boys shot back, puffing out his chest to look brave. Another glare from the man made him shrink back again, though.

"I called you brats. So what?" the stranger growled, then pointed at them dramatically. "...Give me your pokemon."

The two friends stared at each other in confusion, but before they could respond, the man reached over and grabbed the Starly by the wing. The bird screeched at him, flapping the other wing at him angrily.

"Hey! Give him back!" its trainer shouted, jumping up to pull Starly back to safety, but the man raised the pokemon out of his reach.

"Too bad! Your pokemon belong to Team Galactic now," he bullied. Though, as he said this, Starly suddenly pecked at his hand with much of its strength, making him yelp and drop the pokemon.

"Starly!" the Starly's trainer caught the pokemon before it fell to the ground. "Starly, are you all right?" The bird chirped, with a slight nod. Shinx was obviously very annoyed by the stranger's actions to its friends and, with its paws sparking, tackled the man's leg with a weak electric shock.

"O-Ow! Hey!" the man hissed, grabbing at his leg. "Fine, if you won't hand over your pokemon, I'll take them myself!" He pulled out a pokeball, tossing it in front of him. "Glameow, teach these brats a lesson and use fury swipes!" A cat pokemon appeared out of the pokeball and immediately obeyed, leaping towards the pokemon and trainers with its glowing claws outstretched. The boys grabbed their pokemon away and hugged them defensively, ready to take the hit. Suddenly, there was a mighty howl, and Lucario charged from out of nowhere, countering the Glameow's attack with the metal spikes on his paws. The Galactic Grunt was taken by surprise at this new arrival. "What the-"

"It is best to leave them alone," a voice said from behind the Grunt, and he whipped around to see Riley standing there, glaring at him.

"M-mister!" the two boys gasped happily at the same time, waving at the man. Riley looked to them with a slight nod in acknowledgment.

"Pft! What, you're these brats' friend?" the Grunt spat. "Well, whatever! I'll take you on, and then I'll win and take _all_ of your pokemon!"

Riley blinked, not really sure what the Grunt was talking about. _He'll...'take me on'? What does that mean...?_

_'I believe that he is challenging you to a pokemon battle...' _Lucario pointed out. He was only using telepathy to Riley, instead of just amplifying his thoughts for everyone to hear them.

_He is? Hm...I did not think that people would challenge others to battle for this kind of purpose..._ Reading Lucario's mind, Riley saw that the jackal apparently didn't know that, either. _I do not want to battle him, though._

Lucario was growling slightly, while glaring at the Grunt. _'It is fine. I can settle this quickly-'_

There was a great roar coming from the sky that stopped Lucario's thoughts. Everyone looked up to see a huge shadow up above them, and instinctively, they all moved back a little, to not get squashed by the landing shadow. There was a huge buffering of wind as the large pokemon landed, and then Salamence was there, standing in front of Riley and Lucario, facing the Grunt with a very intimidating look.

"Wh-whoaaaaaa!" the two boys exclaimed in amazement.

"A Salamence?" the Grunt thought aloud, apparently very shocked as well. Salamence snorted at him, not looking very impressed. Riley stared at Salamence's back.

"Salamence...have you come to take the battle?" he asked. The dragon answered with a confident roar, stomping a foot as a sign that it was ready.

"F-fine! We'll still school you guys," the Grunt growled, though didn't sound nearly as confident as he was before. Glameow still bravely held his ground, staring up at the great dragon while trying not to flinch away. Riley sighed, looking to the ground. He really didn't want to battle with pokemon, but it seemed like there was no backing down now.

"Very well..."

"Okay then! Let's begin the battle!" the Grunt sneered. The two boys and their pokemon stood at the sidelines, cheering on Salamence. The Grunt started first. "Glameow, use fury swipes!" The cat pokemon hissed, lunging at Salamence with glowing claws.

_'Riley! You must tell Salamence what to do,' _Lucario informed.

_Ah- y-yes..._ Riley had forgotten about that part for a moment. This was his first time battling, after all. "Salamence, dodge it!" The dragon easily shifted out of the way of the incoming claws, and Glameow rebounded from the grass, sneering at Salamence in slight frustration.

"Argh! Use fury swipes again, Glameow!" The cat obeyed, leaping up with its claws outstretched. Riley briefly went through Salamence's mind, seeing what his moveset was.

"Salamence, counter with dragon claw!" Salamence jumped forward swiftly, with his own claws glowing dully in purple light. That attack effortlessly knocked fury swipes away, and Glameow was sent flying. The cat managed to cling onto a small pillar of the ruins instead of crashing headlong into it, not taking any additional damage.

"Go again, Glameow! Use quick attack!" The Glameow jumped off of the pillar, becoming a blur as it charged towards Salamence.

"Salamence, use fly!" With a great flap of wings, Salamence flew up into the sky. The wind that he whipped up already buffered Glameow a bit, slowing the cat's running as it looked around, disoriented. When Glameow was finally able to get it together, Salamence dived down, tackling the cat roughly. Glameow fell onto the grass, struggling to get up as Salamence landed nearby with a growl.

"Come on, Glameow! Get him with scratch!" The cat suddenly leapt up again, flying at Salamence with its claws. Before the dragon could move back, Glameow latched onto his wing, raking it with his claws. Salamence roared in pain, trying to shake the cat off, but Glameow held on.

"Salamence, use fly again!" Salamence flapped his wings once again, and rocketed upwards into the sky. The Glameow didn't stand a chance in holding on, though scratched through the dragon's wing a little more before falling off shortly after Salamence took off. The cat didn't fall very far down because of how close the dragon was still to the ground, but the impact almost knocked out the weakened pokemon. Salamence was screeching as he flew up above, readying his dive downwards.

"Get up, Glameow! come on!" the Grunt ordered, glaring daggers at the struggling cat. Glameow tried very hard to stand again, but was too tired at this point, falling down again as his paws failed him. The Galactic Grunt narrowed his eyes at the cat's exhaustion, hating it for humiliating him. "You useless pokemon!" he snarled at it in fury. Riley flinched from that insult, even though it didn't apply to him.

_How could he? Treat his pokemon that way, even though Glameow tried his hardest..._ The cruel, senseless aura that Riley felt from the Grunt shocked him greatly. Clenching his fists, he looked away, his hat covering his expression, just as Salamence started to finish his final attack. The dragon's accuracy was flawless, as he tackled Glameow one last time. The cat meowed sharply as he was knocked back, landing limply on the grassy ground, completely knocked out.

"Wow! They did it!" the boys cheered, astonished by how easily Salamence won the battle. Shinx and Starly were jumping around, cheering for Salamence's victory.

"Oh, come on, Glameow!" the Grunt hissed, as he pulled out a pokeball, returning the fainted Glameow to it. Cramming the ball into his pocket, he glared towards the pokemon and people who opposed him. "Fine! You can keep your stupid pokemon! But this won't be the end of it. Team Galactic will teach you a lesson!" Lucario's ears twitched.

_'Riley...is this man possibly one of the people that we were searching for? The ones that Arceus had told you about...'_ Riley didn't seem to be listening, though, as he didn't move from his position at all, or even answer the jackal. His eyes were covered as he stood like a statue, not looking towards anyone. Lucario couldn't even read his aura to tell what he was thinking. Trying to ignore the jeers of the two boys, the Grunt started to walk away, grumbling and muttering to himself.

"Man...I can't wait till I get that promotion. I'll get better pokemon...I'm sick of this useless Glameow..." he was saying. As he passed Riley, he was unexpectedly grabbed roughly by the wrist. "Wha-" His head snapped up to glare at Riley, only to feel intimidation suddenly show in his own expression. Riley's eyes had changed slightly, flashing to an electric blue color, as his aura flared with anger.

"No pokemon may be called useless, or stupid," he said softly, though there was a hidden edge in his voice, making it sound almost murderous. "Remember that."

As he let go of the young man's wrist, the Grunt stepped back slowly, as if stunned for a second, before turning around and bolting away from the area. Riley watched him run, his dark emotions subsiding for the time being. Instead, he drew his attention to Salamence, who was growling in discomfort. Glameow's scratch attack had raked quite deeply into his wing, and there was a little bit of a red puffiness at the wound as some blood slowly dripped out of it. The dragon was walking in circles, trying to reach his wing with his head, but it was just out of reach. This was agitating the pokemon, making him growl even more and louder in frustration. Riley approached it cautiously, being careful to not get tripped by Salamence's sweeping tail.

"Salamence! Be calm, be still," Riley comforted with his soft voice. The dragon took little to no notice of him, still trying to grab onto his injured wing. The man stepped forwards some more, and managed to catch Salamence by the long neck, stopping the pokemon's constant cycling. Salamence was still growling, though, showing his teeth as he glared at Riley, moody from his injury. "It's all right, Salamence. Be still..." Riley stroked the dragon on the head, and while doing that, reached over with his other hand to touch the scratch wound. The pokemon hissed slightly in pain when Riley's icy hand made contact with the bloody wing, but then, the man summoned up his aura, creating a soothing cloak of energy around that hand as he raised it over the injury. Salamence blinked in surprise as the pain slowly ebbed, then was finally able to relax, lowering his wings slightly and closing his eyes in sudden comfort.

When he was finished, Riley removed his hand from the wing, the visible glowing aura vanishing from his palm, and sighed, stroking the dragon's head soothingly again. "I am sorry, I am only able to numb the wound for a little while, but I cannot heal it completely..." Salamence opened his eyes again, staring at the man before nudging his shoulder with its head. Riley was a little bit surprised at this action, and slowly placed a hand on the dragon's snout. With that, the pokemon closed his eyes again, a low rumble sounding in his throat - it was a sign of friendship. Riley smiled at that, patting Salamence's snout lightly. "You did well, Salamence..."

Lucario had walked over to join them, and nodded in agreement. _'Thank you very much for all of your help,'_ he thought to the dragon, smiling a little bit as well. Salamence kind of reminded the two of Pidgeot - Pidgeot was very loyal and strong, and Salamence showed the equal traits as the great bird did. Standing together at the moment, the trio seemed like a team; acting as equals.

"Mister!" Riley looked up again, to see the two boys running over to them. They both seemed out of breath and excited, and the same could be said for their pokemon.

"Mister, that was just awesome!" the boy with the Shinx exclaimed, practically running in place. The boy with the Starly nodded rigorously in agreement.

"Yeah! It was a great battle. You guys are so cool," he added with shining, energetic eyes. "Thanks for helping us out...those Team Galactic people are meanies."

"Ah, you are welcome..." Riley frowned at the boy's mentioning of Team Galactic. "That person just now...was from Team Galactic, correct? Do you two know anything about them?"

"I dunno," one of the boys answered, "But my daddy said he doesn't like them...mommy doesn't, either. They said to stay away from them...their commercials look nice, but they're really just meanies."

"I see..." Riley looked to Lucario for information on these things called "commercials," but Lucario shook his head, knowing nothing about them.

"They steal other people's pokemon!" the other boy exclaimed angrily. "I heard from some grown-ups that they set up giant bases everywhere, and take all the pokemon that they want!"

"Bases...? Do you know where they are?"

The boy shook his head. "I just know that they're at places! Why? Are you going to go after them, Mister?"

"Wow! That would be so cool!" his friend cut in, waving his arms around. "Are you going to? I know that you can take them on!"

"But there's so many people in Team Galactic! There's no way to take them on..." the other boy argued.

"But we've got Cynthia on our side!" his friend argued back. "And all of the gym leaders, too, not to mention all those other awesome trainers."

"They won't have time to deal with Team Galactic! I hear that everyone's really busy."

"Maybe...they will have time to," Riley sighed, mostly to himself. Arceus said that this world was in peril - no one would just stand back and do nothing if they would all be destroyed.

"Huh? You think so?" the boys asked. Riley looked up, apparently surprised that they were listening to him.

"What? Oh, I am not sure..." he replied to them slowly, still pondering about it. The kids stared at him for a moment, until a sudden female voice called from the distance.

"Boys! Where are you? It's time to head home now," the voice said. Both boys turned at the sound of the voice, following it.

"Okay, auntie!"

"All right, Mom!"

They both turned back to Riley with wide smiles. "Well, we've got to go now! I hope we'll see you again sometime," one of them said energetically. Riley smiled back and nodded.

"I hope so too..."

"Bye bye!" the other boy exclaimed, pulling out his pokeball. "Shinx, return!" Shinx barked cheerfully one last time before it was hit with a red beam coming from the ball, returning into it. With that, he gave one last wave before running towards the calling woman. The boy with the Starly followed this example, pulling out his own pokeball.

"Come on, Starly! Let's go home," he urged, holding his pokeball up. Starly chirped, flapping its wings slightly before it returned to the ball as well. Putting away the pokeball, he turned one last time to Riley. "Oh, Mister! You should bring that Salamence to the Pokemon Center. They'll heal up his wing in no time," he suggested, pointing to a building close by. The building was quite shiny, with a bright orange roof to mark what it was.

"Oh, really?" Riley asked. "All right, then, I will take him there." The boy nodded, starting to run after his friend.

"Bye!"

Riley waved at the boys who vanished as they ran too far away to see, and then dropped his hand, looking around. He had noticed that Lucario had snuck off a few moments ago, and was now trying to locate him again. Salamence looked around as well for the jackal.

"Lucario? Where did you go now?"

There came a bark, as Lucario ran up to them looking almost excited, and Riley looked to him with a curious frown. _'Here, Riley,'_ Lucario said as he raised one of his paws to him. In it was a small, rectangular package, wrapped in paper and metal foil. Printed on the of the wrapping paper was a colorfully decorated print, with the large letters spelling "CHOCO" printed on it. Lucario urged Riley to take the bar, and so he did, eyeing it carefully.

"What is this?"

_'That, my friend, is chocolate,'_ Lucario nodded dramatically. _'Now, you may try some of it.'_ Riley observed the strange bar for another moment before grinning back at Lucario.

"Very well...come, we'll walk to that building first, and then I will try it," he decided. Lucario looked to the building with the orange roof that Riley had gestured to, before nodding in agreement.

_'All right...let's go.'_

Riley motioned to Salamence to follow, and the dragon followed, rumbling deep in his throat as he eyed the Pokemon Center. He didn't like human civilization that much, but he walked with them anyways, allowing a tolerance this time. As they walked, Riley looked to Lucario with a gentle smile.

"Lucario..."

_'Yes, Riley?'_

"...Thank you. For this," he nodded to the chocolate. Lucario smiled back, almost cheerfully.

_'...You are welcome.'_

~o~o~o~

A great fog covered the landscape, and, though it was dawn, two figures stood at a cliff at the edge of the town, watching over the hidden road. The wind blew gently from behind them, urging them to venture on. Both Riley and Lucario stared on, unflinchingly surveying the cloaked land. They had a long journey ahead of them, and a lot of places to explore...this adventure wouldn't end so quickly as others. Riley sighed, feeling the wind tug at him, then from out of his large pocket, pulled out a chocolate bar and took a bite out of it, chewing thoughtfully. Lucario looked over at him with curiosity. As Riley swallowed the sweet candy, he looked back at Lucario and smiled.

"It is very good, is it not?"

Lucario grinned and nodded. _'Of course it is.'_

Riley nodded back, looking back out towards the fog. "Well, shall we go?"

_'Yes,'_ Lucario replied, and there came the noise of claws scraping the earth as Salamence trudged over. The dragon nudged the two of them, and Riley pet him on the snout. Salamence's wing was all healed, thanks to the Pokemon Center, and he was completely ready for flight. _'Good morning,'_ Lucario said to him. Salamence gave the jackal a low growl in greeting. The three of them were much like a team now, and Riley felt that Salamence would be following him and Lucario for a while.

"Are you prepared, Salamence?" Riley asked, and Salamence nodded immediately. "All right, then...let's go."

Riley and Lucario climbed onto Salamence's back, and the dragon flapped his mighty wings once again. They took off into the sky, becoming a dark speck in the fog before disappearing completely from view. Thus, the sun, dimmed by the heavy clouds, rose high above, into the sky. The third day has come.

* * *

A/N: For those who did or didn't recognize it, the beginning of the last segment was based on the little part at the end of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, with Sir Aaron and Lucario. I just wanted to throw that scene in there, because I liked it a lot. X3


	4. Missing

A/N: Sorry for the ridiculously long wait, everyone! I just keep getting distracted from writing, and when I feel like writing there's no computer available...I'm such a horrible author. x_x I shall write as much as I can now!

Okay...so I know that in the last chapter, they probably flew out towards the direction on Veilstone City...but they went to Eterna City instead. XD *plotholecough* Truthfully, it's because I just thought of what to write in this chapter recently, so I didn't completely plan is through all the way...sorry for my amateur-ness. And also, school has started for me, so I will be SUPER slow at writing chapters now, but I am still 115% planning on finishing this fanfic. Anyways...

* * *

**4: Missing**

Riley and Lucario stood together, staring up at a giant building that was at least 50 levels high. They both seemed quite amazed by it, looking without blinking.

"L-Lucario..."

_'I know...'_ Lucario answered, the two apparently sharing the same thoughts.

"I have never...seen any building this tall before..." This building was probably even taller than Cameron Palace, though not nearly as fancy and grand enough to be called a castle. It reached for the sky, casting a looming shadow over the people of the city as they walked by. There were quite a few of these plain, rectangular buildings standing around everywhere, and seeing these was a new experience for Riley and Lucario. They had been standing there looking up at the building for a few minutes by now.

_'...Riley...'_ Lucario said suddenly, looking around slightly. Riley nodded, feeling the people's uneasy gazes at them as they walked by.

"We are attracting attention, it seems," the man sighed. They've been staring at the building for too long, and it was starting to look strange. Riley casually pulled his hat lower so that the brim covered his eyes, and stepped away. "We should be heading off anyway. Let's go, Lucario." Lucario nodded, following him away. They walked along the streets of the city, looking around curiously as they went. The tall buildings stood orderly on the sides of the roads, all looking the same, decorated with thousands of windows made of glass. The two passed a few smaller buildings as well, but even these houses were strange. They seemed to be small shops, and were decorated with unnatural lights. They weren't natural, these unflickering lights. Riley eyed them strangely, but shook the feeling off. If he let every little thing in this new generation bother him, then he'll be too distracted to carry on. Instead, he ignored the strange new things that were created by technology. At least, for now.

Lucario stopped walking abruptedly, to look at an even stranger building that towered over all the others. It was a menacing looking structure, isolated from the others with a hedge that bordered the area around it. The building was colored dully, with a giant sphere built as the top half. The sphere was crowned with a few spikes on top, and a yellow ring rotated slowly around it. The building looked like private property, as the windows were sparce unlike the other buildings of the city.

"What kind of place is this...?" Riley wondered aloud, then spotted a stone sign, with words imprinted on the flat surface. He walked closer to it and inspected the message:

_Team Galactic Eterna Building  
We Want Your Pokemon!_

_'..."We Want Your Pokemon"?'_ Lucario growled incredulously. The jackal had come over, reading the sign as well. Riley frowned, staring at the ridiculous slogan. This was the building of Team Galactic...and they were openly demanding people for their pokemon? What kind of organization was this? The man noticed something and looked around for a moment, seeing the people as they passed by the building. Some of them were a bit uneasy, and others scared or irritated as they paused to stare at it before going their way. Team Galactic was evidently bothering them, though no one was stepping up to do anything.

"We should do something about this..." Riley said, looking again at the building.

_'Are we going inside it?'_ Lucario asked, looking at the man expectantly. Riley hesitated slightly, wondering what to do. It was unwise to just barge in when they didn't know the whole situation.

"I am not sure..." Riley answered truthfully. He stepped back a little. "Perhaps-"

He didn't have time to finish the thought when someone suddenly ran into him from the side. This impact knocked both people over, and they both fell to the ground. Lucario yelped in surprise.

_'R-Riley!'_ he exclaimed, swiftly stepping over with worry.

"I-it's okay, I am fine," Riley reassured him, quickly getting up and picking up his hat which had fallen off, replacing it on his head, "don't worry..."

"Ouch..." the person who crashed into him groaned, rubbing her head. The stranger was a young woman dressed completely in black, wearing a black dress and black hair clips in her hair that looked strangely like a Lucario's aura filters. She had very long, curly blond hair that went down to at least her waist, with bangs that covered her left eye.

"Are you all right?" Riley asked her, lending her a hand. The girl looked up at him, and took his hand and he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks," she sighed, dusting herself off. She looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that...I was in a hurry and didn't see where I was going..."

"No, it's fine...it was my fault for backing into your path," Riley answered.

The young woman finished her pampering, and peered up to observe the two people standing in front of her. When she saw Lucario, she eyed the jackal curiously before asking, "Are you a Pokemon trainer by any chance?"

"...Yes," Riley replied, deciding to let people refer to him as that title from now on. The woman smiled at him knowingly.

"I see...you seemed like a strong trainer. My name is Cynthia," she introduced herself, offering him a hand.

"Ah- nice to meet you...I am Riley," Riley said, shaking her hand. He felt as if he heard this woman's name from somewhere before.

"Nice to meet you," Cynthia echoed brightly. "So, Riley, what brings you to this place? Are you taking on the gym leader, by any chance?"

"Um...no, I don't think so..." Riley replied, not sure yet what a gym leader was. Cynthia seemed puzzled by that answer, frowning curiously.

"No? Hm...well, I suppose that even if you're looking for the gym leader, you won't find her here right now..."

"Why is that?" Riley asked her.

"You've heard about Team Galactic, right?" Cynthia asked, looking at the strange building.

"Yes. What about them...?"

"Well, Gardenia-"

"Hey! You people! Quit loitering around in front of the headquarters!" a voice suddenly shouted. Riley, Lucario, and Cynthia all turned to see a Galactic Grunt who had stepped up to them menacingly. "Unless if you want your pokemon taken away from you, we'll gladly-" He stopped sneering abruptly when he realized that one of the people standing in front of him was Cynthia. "Er- uh- I mean..."

"Is there a problem, sir?" Cynthia asked while blinking her eyes innocently, making the Grunt act even more flustered. He mumbled something quickly and nervously before managing a weak dismissive wave and stumbling away.

_'What was that about...'_ Lucario wondered, ears twitching slightly in confusion. Riley shrugged subtly to his question, staring at Cynthia. Apparently, no one messed with this woman...Cynthia watching the Grunt wander away before turning back to the two with a new air of seriousness.

"Well, this place isn't a very good place to talk...shall we go elsewhere?" she asked them, and started to pull them away before they could answer. Riley and Lucario glanced at each other before letting her lead them down the road.

In a moment, they arrived at a small house, contrasting the tall buildings surrounding it. Cynthia reached into her pockets, searching for something there as her two companions waited.

"Do you...live here?" Riley asked her. He saw that she had found the object she was looking for, and pulled it swiftly out of her pocket, revealing a small shiny key. With a satisfied smile, Cynthia stepped up to the door of the small house in a graceful manner, sticking the key into the doorknob.

"No, I don't," she answered as she unlocked the door, pulling it open with another soundless movement. "Professor Oak lives here, actually. His lab is all the way in Pallet Town though - in the Kanto region - so this is just a house that he uses when he visits Sinnoh. I'm pretty well acquainted with him, so he lets me use this place. Here, we can talk without any interruptions."

"I see..." Riley replied, looking to Lucario, who looked back at him with the same expression. Neither of them knew what exactly she was talking about... Cynthia turned back to them after stashing the key back into her pocket.

"What're you still standing there for? Let's go in," she urged, gesturing the two to go inside. Riley hesitated, then nodded in response, stepping forward into the house, with Lucario following after him like his shadow.

The interior of the house was small, but had a warm atmosphere. It was only one room, with hardly any signs of the space having been used at all. Still, there were some bookshelves lined with complex books, and some paintings and such hanging on the walls. Cynthia was walking around as if she owned the little house, knowing where every little thing was placed. "Would you like a drink or something?" she asked as she sat on one of the cushions surrounding a table in the middle of the room. She looked at her two guests, then to the cushions across the table to indicate that she wanted them to sit.

"Ah- no, thank you," Riley replied, taking a seat. Lucario sat next to him, not taking his eyes off of Cynthia once. Riley could tell without reading his thoughts that he was still wary of this woman.

"All right," Cynthia sighed, getting comfortable. "So, what were we talking about?" she wondered thoughtfully, leaning her elbow on the table. "Oh right, Gardenia." She sighed, looking at Riley with raised eyebrows. "You wanted to know about her, right?" Riley just nodded, not wanting to open his mouth and say something that sounded strange. "Okay...," Cynthia said, nodding as well. "Gardenia - the gym leader of this city - she knew that Team Galactic had been stealing people's Pokemon since they moved into that office building that they made. About a day ago, she told some people that she was going to get help, to stop Team Galactic from taking any more Pokemon. She headed out of the city, into the forest to the west over there." She pointed in a direction which was probably west. "But the thing is...no one's heard from her since," Cynthia finished with a frown. "Maybe she got lost or something, but she just up and vanished. People are planning on going to find her, but the forest's a dangerous place for common people. There's poison Pokemon everywhere, and some say that there's ghosts at night. Probably true." She shrugged. "Anyways, since Gardenia left, Team Galactic started to do whatever they wanted, even more so. They won't even let people walk past their building in peace, as you saw earlier. I just got here today and heard the news. It seems to be getting pretty bad for this place."

Riley listened intently at Cynthia's explanation, and frowned when she finished. He looked down at the table thoughtfully. "That sounds bad..." he muttered, mostly to himself. Whoever this Gardenia was, she was evidently the person needed to handle this situation. "If Gardenia returns, then will Team Galactic leave the people alone?"

"Probably," Cynthia said with a shrug. "She did have something planned from what I heard." Riley looked to Lucario, and the two exchanged looks.

"Very well," Riley finally said with a nod. He and Lucario stood up at the same time, confidently, like one being. "We - Lucario and I - will go look for her." Cynthia raised an eyebrow, but didn't look surprised in any way. She was expecting an answer like this.

"You sure?"

"Yes," the man replied at once, looking to Cynthia with a light smile. "We are after Team Galactic as well, so this will be the best thing to do right now; no matter how dangerous, we'll try."

"If you say so," Cynthia replied carelessly, though it looked as if she was hiding a smile. "Well, good luck to you, then. I've got to get back to work," she said, standing up as well. "Do you need directions?"

Riley shook his head. "We'll find our way on our own." He glanced back at Lucario one more time before nodding to the woman politely. "Excuse us." With that, the two exited the house, following the street to the outskirts of the city. Cynthia watched them go for a moment before revealing her smile, brushing her hair back a little with her fingers. Then, she herself walked outside, going the opposite direction.

_...Riley, huh?_ she thought as she walked. _Why is it that you seem so familiar...?_

~o~o~o~

"Here it is," Riley said as he opened his eyes. Lucario nodded, opening his eyes as well. Sure enough, the entrance to the forest was right in front of them. This place was very easy to find using the aura vision. A draft blew out from the arches of the trees, as if wanting to pull them inside.

_'...Riley?'_ Riley turned his head to look at Lucario questioningly, though the jackal didn't look back at him, staring at the dark forest ahead._ 'That woman was strange, wasn't she?'_

The man hesitated, then nodded in agreement. "Yes, she had a strange aura," he answered. "It was different than those of others - stronger, and more defined..."

_'Should she be trusted?'_ Lucario suddenly asked, eying Riley for an answer. Riley sighed, looking forward again.

"I believe so," he finally replied. "Always have faith in people, Lucario." Lucario hesitated, then nodded, and Riley smiled to him brightly. "So, shall we go?"

_'Yes...'_ Lucario emptied his thoughts, focusing on their task. Together, they walked into the thick forest - hopefully to find what they were looking for.


	5. Stand Up

Wow, it's been a year. I am extremely sorry for the wait, everyone. Thanks for all the great reviews and favorites/alerts! Since it took so long, have a very long chapter. I'm sorry if it's badly written, I've been writing it the entire day and got pretty tired of it. Enjoy, I hope this chapter was at least readable.

Also note: Everyone is probably OOC based off of the anime, because I don't watch it. Though the three ghost Pokemon are entirely based off of the ghosts in the early anime, because that was my childhood and that is how I'll always see them.

I WILL RAPIDLY UPDATE THIS STORY NOW THAT I'M PAST THE WRITER'S BLOCK CHAPTER (which by the way took at least four attempts to write from scratch because it kept getting lost for some reason. And I usually give up when something that I wrote is deleted ONCE). NO MORE YEAR LONG WAITS, I PROMISE.

* * *

**5: Stand Up**

The sun lowered itself into the trees, marking the near end of another day. All around the forest, the tall grass rustled with small Pokemon as they played around, though gradually the movement was starting to cease. The creatures were getting tired, and it was about time to return to their homes. Throughout this transition from day to night, there were only a select few things that didn't change. One was the dark mansion, sitting in the corner of Eterna Forest; a mansion that none of the Pokemon wished to approach. It seemed that every day, the Pokemon chose to avoid the creepy, rotting place, and when it came into view, it was always something that the wild creatures would walk warily by, eying it with worried expressions. The house seemed to loom over whoever saw it, even if the viewer was not even a few yards near it. It was the shadow of daily forest life; a dark side hanging in the corner of everyone's view that no one dared to notice for too long.

The other constant is that on this particular day, a figure stood stiffly in front of the decaying building, facing it like a statue. This figure belonged to that of a woman, donning a green outfit, the cape swaying in the slight breeze, though the woman herself stayed completely still. She stood separated from the shadow by a weak fence, her eyes were transfixed on the gloomy mansion, seemingly fearful and yet reluctant to pull away, as if she were waiting for something big to happen. Several wild Pokemon had stopped and stared curiously at the strange human woman throughout the day. She had been standing there for the most of day…it was unusual, but the Pokemon eventually ignored her and continued on with their activities. It wasn't until the sun started to set when the woman finally shifted her weight uncomfortably, showing at least some sign of life. She turned her head slowly to glance at the sun behind her, and was blinded by the golden rays of light.

_It's getting pretty late,_ the woman thought. A chill ran down her spine as she thought of her staying near the creepy mansion at night. She had barely ever went near the place when it was dark outside…her head whipped back to stare alarmingly at the building, as if she was afraid if it had got anywhere closer to her. Of course, the house remained stationary, the old glass windows glaring down at her as if they were alive, gleaming from the sun's golden rays. The woman shivered, cringing slightly as she took a step back from the place she was standing.

"M-maybe I should just forget about it…I can handle the situation myself," she muttered to herself, as if trying to reason with her mind, finding her feet moving backward more. She nodded, taking this idea as a decision and swallowing nervously, about to turn around to sprint out of there.

Before she whipped around and bolted, loud rustling could be heard in the bushes where she was backing into. This didn't get her attention as she was too absorbed in her thoughts, and right when she turned, she found herself slamming into someone.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Riley exclaimed, staring down at the woman in surprise. The woman stumbled back, looking very flustered. Lucario had treaded out of the dense underbrush behind Riley, and was now blinking at the strange woman, who stared back once she pieced her bearings back together.

_A…Lucario?_ She thought, too puzzled to react for a moment.

"Are you all right?" The question asked by the man brought the woman's attention back to the situation at hand.

"Oh! Yeah, it's okay," she laughed, though her voice was nervous and spoke very quickly. "Er, excuse me, I have to go!" Not wanting to linger there any longer, she skirted passed the strange company, about to disappear into the green background.

"P-please wait, miss!" Riley exclaimed, wearing a confused look on his face due to her strange behavior. "Um, my name is Riley, and this is my partner, Lucario. We're searching for someone right now – have you seen Gardenia?"

The woman stopped at the mentioning of the name, frozen for a moment. She turned back to face the man, frowning. "Wh-what do you want with Gardenia?"

"We had met someone back in town who explained that the gym leader had disappeared for a day. She told us that Team Galactic has gotten extremely active since she vanished…"

With a calculating frown, the woman looked down at the grass, apparently deep in thought. "It's getting worse, huh. I thought that this would happen. Without me to oversee it…"

"You? Are you Gardenia, then?" Riley's question caught the woman off guard, as she didn't realize that her thoughts were being said aloud. She hesitated for a second, then sighed in defeat.

"Yes, I am," she admitted. "No use hiding it…" She looked to the man standing before her. "I guess the town needs me back, huh?" Riley frowned, nodding in agreement. With that, Gardenia turned hurriedly, about to walk away. "Okay! I'll go home right now-"

"I apologize for my curiosity, but why were you gone for so long?" This next question made the gym leader stop again, freezing her walk. Riley tilted his head, again puzzled by her strange behavior. "If you knew the situation…you would not have disappeared for a day, or at least that is just my thoughts. Did something come up, perhaps?"

"W-well…" Gardenia hesitated nervously again. This caused her to look back at the shadowed mansion. It was getting darker by the minute, and she wanted to be far away from this place. Unfortunately, Riley caught her gaze and looked back and forth at the house and the gym leader, with curious eyes. Gardenia scratched her head, feeling that she couldn't keep these secrets anymore. "Ugh," she sighed, hanging her head, but cleared her throat, starting again, this time pouring out her intentions. "Well you see the reason I left was to find a friend of mine that would help with this problem in Eterna City. I thought that maybe numbers would help intimidate Team Galactic better than just me. But…when I asked around for my friend, people told me that they last saw her entering the forest, so I came looking for her. I've been here lots of times, so I know this forest like the back of my hand!" She smiled happily at this statement, proud of that fact, but then her smile faded again when she turned to stare at the mansion again. "But…I couldn't find her anywhere, so…she must've went in there. Though I don't know why she would! I've been waiting out here for her to come out, but she hasn't yet."

"I…see," Riley muttered after a moment of silence that followed her explanation. He and Lucario glanced at each other. A question was bothering them both. "Did you go in and look for her?"

"E-er…" Gardenia hesitated, playing with her hands. "…No, but…I-It's definitely not because I'm s-scared!" Riley blinked at this outburst, and the gym leader looked away, completely flustered. "W-well, I don't really need her help anyway, now that I think about it," she continued with fast words, pretending that she didn't say what she just said. "I'll just go back and handle the situation myself! Yeah! They're waiting for me to do something…"

"Aren't you worried about your friend, then?" Riley interrupted, and the woman stopped talking, her excitement dropping back down.

"Yeah…a little, I guess," she admitted, biting her lip. Riley exchanged another glance with Lucario, and there was a moment of silence.

"I-if you would like, Lucario and I can look for her for you."

"You would! I mean-" Gardenia cleared her throat, pulling together whatever sense of authority she had left. "Thanks – Riley, was it? – but I can handle things well by myself. I'm a gym leader after all!" She blinked to find that Riley and Lucario had already walked towards the fence surrounding the mansion. "H-hey!" She jumped over to them with annoyance. "I really, really don't need help!"

"If you insist," Riley muttered, smiling calmly at the house. "Though…this place seems interesting to us as well. Do you mind if we go in and investigate?" This question caused confusion to run across Gardenia's face, staring at them oddly.

"No, I don't but…"

"Excellent! IF we find your friend, we will surely bring her back outside," Riley responded immediately. "Let's go, Lucario." The two of them started to climb over the fence.

"H-hey, wait!" Gardenia exclaimed, waving at them to return, though they were already over the fence and walking on the pathway to the door. The gym leader stared at their backs, then groaned. "This guy…" Not allowing herself time to think twice, she hopped over the fence and ran after them. "I said wait!"

_'She's coming,'_ Lucario commented, ears twitching. Riley smiled and gave his companion a subtle nod. The man then turned to face the woman who had caught up with them, standing there a little out of breath.

"Shall we go?" he asked softly.

Gardenia almost froze up again, but forced herself to nod. Giving her another encouraging smile, Riley put a hand onto the weathered door and gave it a gentle push. The wooden door, in response, creaked open with a creepy sound effect. Without further ado, Riley and Lucario walked inside, consumed by the shadows. Gardenia hesitated, turning her head back once to see the last of the sun disappear behind the trees. She wanted to go back very much…but there was no turning away this time. Forcing the lump in her throat down, she bit her lip and charged into the building.

~o~o~o~

"Are you doing all right?" Riley had to ask the gym leader behind them, who was cringing away from everything she saw.

"Yeah! Of course! Why wouldn't I be all right? I'm just peachy! Haha!" The shaky, high pitched voice of the woman made Riley flinch slightly. He nodded once, and continued to examine their surroundings.

The air inside the mansion was very musty, smelling of old, decaying wood. The wallpaper coating the interior of the house was peeled and worn, showing that this place was not kept by anyone for quite some time. There were two large staircases, leading up to the second level, where many dark corridors stood open. These stairs did not seem very trustworthy, being made out of wood. Riley studied the area for a moment with a small smile, then closed his eyes, feeing the aura emitted. Lucario twitched his ears and, seeing Riley, copied his way of examination. Gardenia stared at their silence for a moment, then frowned, shivering at the creepy mansion. This was her first time being in here, and she did not appreciate this feel that existed in the walls. It felt as if they were being watched…

"Ah, that's interesting."

The gym leader blinked at Riley's comment, looking at him with a confused expression as he opened his eyes again. "What is?"

"O-oh, nothing really," Riley laughed softly, giving her a reassuring smile. "I suppose we will investigate the top floors first."

"Top…?" Gardenia looked at the stairs with an expression of distaste. Those stairs really didn't seem safe…but her two companions were already walking towards them, so she decided to follow after them. _Come on, Gardenia, be brave! You're a gym leader!_ a voice encouraged in her mind, though it was a bit weak. She sighed, shaking her head. She couldn't be so afraid now. It was time to be the confident gym leader she was. Besides, she thought she was getting used to this environment after standing here for a couple of minutes. Right? Right! Though she knew that she still couldn't stand ghost Pokemon…if any appeared, she was set on running.

The stairs miraculously held themselves as the adventurers made their way up, though there were some dangerous sounding creaks and groans throughout. Gardenia looked around uncertainly the whole time, her senses heightened from all of the silence. She was extremely aware of anything that could happen. She let out a shuddering sigh. _I think…I'm getting used to this…_

"This way," Riley said, peeking through a doorway into a narrow hall. He stepped through and studied the new location. This hallway was lined with many rooms from left to right. The paths disappeared into the gloomy darkness on either side. Lucario followed, tilting his head in curiosity, and Gardenia joined them, eying the dark hall with nervous glances.

"I have a feeling that your friend is here, Gardenia," Riley commented, earning a surprised look from the gym leader.

"Really?"

Riley nodded. "I think that splitting up and searching for her is the quickest way to find her," he added, continuing his look around. Gardenia blinked, a sinking feeling appearing in her stomach.

"S-split up?" she questioned, her paranoia returning to her.

"Yes. I will search on the left corridor. Lucario can search the middle rooms, and you may search the right side, if you wish."

Gardenia hesitated, but swallowed her fear and slowly nodded. She was a gym leader! She couldn't back down on something like this. Riley smiled kindly.

"If you encounter any trouble, you may call for us."

The woman nodded again, slightly reassured by this option. She returned his smile, also managing to call back some confidence in that expression. "Then, let's start!"

The three companions separated paths, each heading to the specified sides of the hall. Gardenia walked for a little bit, then stole a peek behind her. Both of her company had vanished already. She shivered slightly, but urged herself to keep walking to the end of the hall. There was no turning back, she reminded herself. But she just couldn't shake off that awful feeling of being watched…

Riley walked quietly down the left hall, unfazed by any of the creepy atmosphere around him. He closed his eyes again, feeling the strange, faint pulsating auras of ghosts. This place was most definitely the home of many ghost-type Pokemon, though another aura that Riley was sensing was what drew him forward. He walked until he was at the front of the room second to the last down that hallway and opened the door. A girl combing her long, braided green hair with her fingers stood in the middle of the small room. Her soft eyes rose to make contact with the man at the doorway, and they both shared gentle smiles.

~o~o~o~

_This is the first room…_ Gardenia thought to herself as she faced the last door of the hall. It felt like opening this door was a bad idea…Clenching her fist, the woman walked toward it, her other hand reaching slowly for the handle. She had to start looking. It was the only way to find her friend…after taking a quick deep breath, she looked at the door with determined eyes. Her hand grasped the doorknob and quickly twisted it, flinging the door open.

"Cheryl!"

The door swung open freely and Gardenia blinked, seeing no one there at the position she was standing. About to go to the next room, she thought she heard something in front of her and peered back into the open room. "Cheryl?" Curiously, she walked further in. There was an odd silence when she entered, and the feeling of someone watching her intensified. She shivered, clutching her arms. "This doesn't seem right…!"

She turned, about to exit the room, when the door suddenly slammed shut in front of her. Stunned, she stared at the closed door for a minute, then took a step toward it, reaching out tentatively with her hand to grab the doorknob. She twisted it again to open the door.

It was locked.

"Wha…" The fact sank in, along with her heart. She pulled at the stubborn knob several times, then rushed herself at the door, slamming her fists onto the pale wood. "Riley! Lucario!" She kept knocking and shouting as loudly as possible, but there was no response. Then, a noise behind her caused her to freeze.

"Gengar-gengar…"

Blinking wildly, she slowly turned her head, fearing what she would see next. From the strange painting hanging at the corner of the room, two glaring red eyes could be seen. Slowly, the eyes grew bigger, as the creature started to become visible. After the eyes, the mouth appeared, sporting a wide grin full of pearly white teeth. Then, the outline of the figure formed, slowly becoming opaque with a dark purple hue. The somewhat large Pokemon hovered in front of the woman, studying her with its huge eyes, its ears twitching slightly. Gardenia's face grew pale white.

"G-g-g-g-g…"

"Gar?"

"GENGAR!" Gardenia screamed, flailing frantically at the ghost as she backed into the door in terror. The Gengar snickered at her reaction, floating around her as it made funny faces. "Aaah! Get away!" Gardenia yelled, trying to shoo it away with her hands, but they just went straight through the ghost's body.

"Gengar-gar!" The Pokemon laughed, relatively loudly. Suddenly, Gardenia felt something touching the top of her head.

"Haun-haun-haun!" A Haunter chuckled back, resting its levitating claws on top of the terrified woman.

"Gastly~" another ghost Pokemon snickered, floating above them all.

"AAAAAAHHH!" the woman shrieked, batting Haunter's claws away. This was her worst nightmare, meeting all of these ghost Pokemon at once! She ducked down, covering her head, as the ghosts jeered around her, floating above her head and tormenting her in her fright. Her breath was heavy as she shut her eyes. She was surrounded by ghosts, and no one was coming to help her. _What do I do! _She thought furiously to herself. Opening her eyes, she saw something catch her attention. The Pokeballs on her belt gleamed dully at her side. Her eyes now widening, she immediately felt calmed.

The ghost Pokemon distanced themselves slightly, drifting off confusedly as the gym leader slowly stood up. They exchanged curious looks with each other, all of their mouths hanging open. Gardenia glanced up at them, her eyes full of new found courage.

"You ghost Pokemon had better knock it off," she commanded with a voice of authority.

"Haa?" Haunter tilted its head, then looked to his companions, using his claws to stretch out his mouth humorously, sticking his tongue out. "Haun-haun-haun!" he laughed, swaying around in a silly fashion as he tried to mock Gardenia (though looked nothing like her at all). The other two ghosts burst out into laughter, apparently finding this imitation hilarious.

"I warned you," Gardenia muttered, grabbing a Pokeball from her belt. She flung it at them in a dramatic way. "Roserade, I choose you! Use Shadow Ball!" The Pokemon sprung out of the Pokeball thrown with a brave call, the dark glob already growing in its hands. The three ghost Pokemon blinked in surprise, flailing around at the sudden threat. Before they could react, the Shadow Ball exploded in their faces, throwing them to the walls. Gardenia took a few heavy breaths, glaring at them. Her Roserade, who had landed with its small feet on the floor, stared at them in an intimidating manner as well. The ghosts groaned, struggling back upright. As this happened, the door suddenly flung open behind the gym leader.

"Gardenia, you did it!" A familiar female voice caused Gardenia to blink, and she quickly turned to face the doorway. Cheryl stood there with a calm posture, smiling brightly at her friend. "You overcame your fears."

"Cheryl!" Gardenia exclaimed, sighing with relief. She ran up to her friend, giving her a big hug. "You would not believe how glad I am to see you!" Cheryl giggled happily at this, patting the gym leader on the back in return.

"Cheryl was attempting to let you get over your fears, Gardenia," the woman heard Riley's voice explain. Gardenia blinked, seeing him standing behind Cheryl, accompanied by Lucario. The man wore a soft smile, his arms crossed in a relaxed pose. "It is a good thing that you did well."

"Huh? A test, then?" Gardenia stared at Cheryl, then puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. "That's mean, Cheryl! You know how much I hate ghosts!"

"Gen?" Gengar hovered sadly over, a great frown on his face.

"Ah-…er, no offense?" the gym leader added, scratching her head as she realized what she just said, then made a face. "But you were bullying me! That's not nice."

"Gen…gengar!" the ghost nodded his head in apology, then tackled the gym leader in a hug.

"Haunter!"

"Gastly!"

The other two joined in happily, following their ring leader.

"Aaaargh, d-don't do that!" Gardenia complained, starting to shiver again. She could hear Cheryl giggling from behind them.

"See, they're not too bad!" the girl said with a smile. "They just get carried away with their pranks, is all."

"Ughhhh…I guess…" Gardenia groaned, crossing her arms as the ghost chuckled, dancing around her. One look said that she still didn't like them very much. She cleared her throat, staring with a strict frown at the Pokemon. "But don't prank me at all, got that? Or you know what'll happen again." Roserade huffed in agreement, copying its trainer's expression. The ghosts whimpered and quickly backed away.

"Now now, don't be so strict to them," Cheryl laughed, patting her friend on the shoulder. "Anyway, shall we be going? Mister Riley filled me in on the situation."

"Ah- right!" Gardenia had completely forgotten about the trouble at Eterna City after this crazy adventure. "We'd better hurry, then!" She smiled, understanding the point of this day. "I feel unstoppable after getting through this. Let's go and give Team Galactic a piece of our mind!"

"That's the Gardenia that I know," her friend replied happily. The gym leader grinned and nodded.

"Come on!" She looked at the ghost Pokemon lingering hesitantly around them and let herself smile, waving at them. "Thanks for the lesson, you three." Her newfound semi-acquaintances, seeing the kind complement, grinned proudly in response. Gardenia frowned at them again. "But don't get too friendly! I still don't like ghost-types very much, y'know!"

"Gen, gen!" Gengar chuckled, taking her comment in a friendly manner, and the woman grinned slightly. The three Pokemon floated in that room, waving off their visitors as they went on their way.

~o~o~o~

"Thanks for your help, Riley," Gardenia commented once they were back outside in the fresh forest air. The night breeze carried off the remains of the musty scent around the company. Riley blinked cluelessly, tilting his head.

"Mm? I did not do much."

The gym leader shook her head and smiled, crossing her arms. "If you didn't show up, I would never have gone into that mansion to begin with! I never liked that place…"

"Will you visit it more now?" Cheryl asked curiously.

Gardenia hesitated, then shook her head. "Nah! I still don't like ghosts!" she complained, causing her friend to laugh quietly, "though…I guess I'm not as scared anymore, huh."

"You don't seem like you are," Cheryl pointed out cheerfully.

"Yeah…you're right!" With a prideful grin, the woman walked on confidently. "Well anyway, time to go face those Team Galactic grunts!"

Riley slowed his pace to a stop, standing there silently in the midst of vegetation. Lucario stopped as well after seeing this, tilting his head at the man questioningly. The man sighed gently, a hand reaching to brush the gold necklace resting on his chest. He stared at the starry sky, as if mesmerized by its vastness. Lucario blinked, a faded memory reawakening in his mind.

_'…Aaron…?'_ Lucario thought in wonder, betraying the new alias for a moment. It took a little longer for the two women to notice that Riley had stopped.

"Riley? Are you alright?" Gardenia asked, walking back a few steps.

"Ah? Yes, I'm fine…" the man replied distantly, giving the gym leader a small smile. Cheryl joined in with Gardenia's puzzled expression, her calm eyes studying the man wisely. Riley sighed, lowering his hand to his side. "…We will be on our way now."

"Huh? You're not coming back to Eterna City?"

The man shook his head. "We have other things to look after. I wish the two of you good luck with Team Galactic."

Gardenia studied him carefully for a while longer, hands on her hips. Then finally, she shrugged, flashing him a brave smile. "If you say so! Thanks again for your help!" Riley smiled and nodded, and the gym leader turned the other way, leaving for Eterna City. Cheryl watched her go for a moment, then turned back to Riley, bowing politely.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Mister Riley."

Riley smiled at the girl, nodding in return. "It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Cheryl."

With one last smile, Cheryl turned and jogged quickly away to join her friend, holding her long dress up so as to not ruin it with snagging branches. Lucario gazed at the retreating figures, then turned to stare at his friend.

_'We are not following? Lord Arceus told us to find Team Galactic…'_ he commented, puzzled on the man's decisions.

"Yes, however I have a good feeling that they have the situation here under control," Riley replied softly, smiling toward the two friends walking together down the path. "I have their trust that they will take care of the building in that town. If I were to follow, then that would imply that I would not let them handle their obligation alone. It is a bit rude, I think."

_'I see…'_ Lucario frowned, studying the path that the two women took with a serious look. Riley chuckled, patting the jackal on the head.

"You should not worry about them too much either, Lucario," he said cheerfully. "The two of them seem like an unstoppable force right now. Nothing will be able to stand in their way."

The Pokemon stared at the man, then smiled slightly, nodding. _'I understand.'_

A roar burst forth from the sky, and with that warning, Salamence descended, shaking the trees with the heavy winds formed by his powerful wings.

"Ah, there you are, friend," Riley greeted, and the dragon nodded in courtesy. "Are you prepared to depart now? We must find a place to stay for the night." Salamence growled warmly, eager to continue flying. Riley chuckled. This Pokemon could never be restricted to being owned by anyone – he was a majestic creature, forever containing a wild heart. Any other lifestyle would disappoint it.

The two riders climbed onto the dragon's back while it waited patiently. Once they were securely seated, the Pokemon flapped its mighty wings, and the team departed once more, for an unknown destination.


End file.
